If you are caught on the surface of an avalanche, try to “swim” toward the peripheries, reads the emergency survival tip.
We are going on a decade of movement, and it seems as if the only significant change is whether the current slope has stable footing or is shaking with an avalanche.
I don’t remember the last time things seemed settled. Life has been a constant transition as we have pressed on uphill into the calling God has placed on us. In seasons, He has given us a flat space to rest on the upward journey.
In others, He has held us aloft as circumstances threatened to consume us like a quickly approaching wall of snow.
My wife and I have always had a vision to serve the Lord’s Kingdom purposes among the nations. After several years of ministry in North Africa, we discovered that our youngest child had a serious heart condition. Suddenly, our solid footing crumbled away beneath us as we packed up our lives once again and returned to the U.S. for an indeterminate season.
I have never been in an actual avalanche. But living through constant change and uncontrollable circumstances has felt like what I imagine it to feel like—violent, forceful, and out of control.
In the middle of shaking of transition, we find the Lord to be stable, safe, and sufficient. We have learned that it is better to stand with Him while a wall of snow approaches than to leave Him for a peaceful hilltop home.
When we fight the Lord’s work, serving entitlements and comforts, we get buried under the snow. When we stick with Him, He shows us how to surf the wave, and we discover a life of joy and abundance that we never thought possible.
We don’t always know the best way to care for our children in the midst of this mobile life, but the Lord provided a caring friend that wanted to love on the kids and send us on an all expense paid trip to Legoland.
We scratched our heads at how the Lord is going to provide the huge moving expenses for our next assignment, and someone called to give us all but one of the plane tickets we need.
It is one avalanche after another. But Jesus sees them all coming, and He has a glint in His eye as He shows off His power and love in our lives.
What circumstances threaten to overtake you? What can you do today to stand with the Lord as an avalanche looms?
**This account comes from a long-term worker who is preparing to move overseas.**
Original article: FrontiersUSA.org/blog/article/how-to-survive-an-avalanche
